In 1661, after the death of Mazarin, Louis XIV took over state affairs own hands. For several years, the reign of this now twenty-three-year-old sovereign became the personification of unlimited royalty, and yard Sun King turned into a brilliant metaphor for the absolutist concept of world order. Art and, above all, architecture played an important role in this performance. political role. They were designed to amaze the people and at the same time tell about political attitudes, using a special language of images.
Jean-Baptiste Colbert was driving force the state machine behind the king's back. Serving as minister of finance while Charles Lebrun was president of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture, founded in 1648, Colbert was also appointed suritendant of buildings in 1664. This position made him responsible for the implementation of all royal architectural projects. In 1666, the French Academy opened its doors in Rome, signaling that a new world power was intent on shaking the dominance of Eternal City in the field of culture, making Paris a center of fine arts. Founding of the Academy architecture(in 1671) was an important step on this path. The Academy became an instrument of state control over the architectural process.
Colbert's main concern was the reconstruction of the Louvre, which at that time had the appearance of a serf structures, which has been constantly expanded and improved since the 16th century. Only recently Lemercier erected his Clock Pavilion, and with the active participation of Levo, the eastern part of the Square Court was reconstructed. However, the appearance of the imposing façade facing city, left much to be desired. Antoine Leonor Houdin's original design, created in 1661, already included large space intercolumnium, and six years later this idea was realized
val Claude Perrault. Another project, authored by Levo, also required the creation of a colonnade, but from double columns. The central oval part was to be highlighted on the façade, and in the interior it would correspond to a large main hall. Since Colbert did not approve of these projects, he turned to the most famous Italian architects - Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Pietro da Cortona, Carlo Rainaldi and Francesco Borromini with a proposal to carry out the projects according to a given scheme. Borromini immediately refused the order; the designs of Pietro da Cortona and Rainaldi did not arouse any interest, and the choice settled on two projects Bernini. The first of these included a concave façade surface line, dominated by a protruding oval pavilion topped by a drum-like volume. The order and plasticity of the contours of the facade were reminiscent of the design of the square of the Cathedral of St. Petra. This project, which included high degree openness in environment, was rejected by Colbert due to climate and safety concerns. The second, slightly modified version was also criticized. Nevertheless, in April 1665 Bernini was invited to Paris to create a new project. The groundbreaking ceremony took place that same year. But even this last idea - a new type of block-shaped volume - was not realized: construction stopped after the construction of the foundation.
The reasons for the failure that befell Bernini in Paris are very eloquent. Roman architects in the best Italian traditions, preference was given to a royal residence open to the surrounding urban areas. Thus, the open arms of the facade of the first project echoed the exedra on the other side of the palace square. But Colbert demanded building, embodying the power of absolutism removed from the people and capable of becoming a monument to the French monarchy itself. The Small Council, a commission convened in April 1667, decided to settle on a compromise option, which was later revised again to take into account further changes made to the Louvre ensemble.
Finally, in 1667-1668, the east façade was built; The author of the structure was the doctor and mathematician Claude Perrault. He modified previous designs, perpetuating the power of the French monarch. Perrault also turned to the colonnade, trying to obscure the existing late medieval palace complex, but in his creation an unprecedented classicist severity appears. Above the steep, clearly structured first, basement tier, an elongated colonnade rises, its corners marked by architectural compositions reminiscent of triumphal arches. The central axis of the facade is accentuated by the resemblance of a temple entrance with a pediment. Thus, the palace complex turned out to be enriched with an element of temple architecture. A distinctive and repeated feature of this work was the use of twin Corinthian columns.
The debate over the Louvre's façade and the decision in favor of an academically classical scheme are very important for understanding the role of art in absolutist France. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that it was not the king himself, but the all-powerful minister Colbert, who determined the main directions of policy. The Louvre was the paradigm of this phenomenon. In 1671, the minister announced a competition to create a “French” order for the design of the Louvre courtyard. As for the palace chambers, Colbert’s favorite idea was to decorate the rooms with symbols different countries light, which was supposed to create the illusion of a world in miniature, ruled by the king of France. After the façade was completed, pressure from the Fronde and Louis XIV's own plans put an end to his projects. The king turned to his favorite idea - the reconstruction of a hunting estate in Versailles near Paris.
France under Louis XIV
While the revolutionary crisis was subsiding in England, a completely different era was beginning in France. In 1661, with the death of Cardinal Mazarin, Louis XIV (reigned 1643–1715) became the sole ruler of France. The conditions for his reign were ideal. The young king did not need any of the radical innovations - Henry IV, Richelieu and Mazarin had already laid the necessary foundations. The French privileged class wanted to be ruled by a king who would not sit in one place, but act. Louis's army and his income were the largest in Europe. France had just won a victory over Spain and, with a divided Germany, a confused England and a Holland without military power, was out of competition. Louis XIV, who was 22 years old in 1661, envisioned his long future as the first lord on the throne, surrounded by the splendor of royal luxury and an aura of easy victories over his enemies. These hopes were fully justified. By the age of 54, Louis had won the title of Great Monarch, he had become a symbol of absolutism, he was adored and despised by other rulers. Towards the end of the era, Louis's style of government caused problems both domestically and internationally. But during the years 1661–1688, which we will touch upon here, he could characterize his reign as “great, significant and sparkling.”
Louis XIV did not succeed in all his endeavors, but he was a monarch from God. To begin with, he looked very majestic, with his proud demeanor, strong figure, elegant carriage, magnificent clothes and magnificent manners. More importantly, he had the stamina and focus to deal with every grueling detail of his role as monarch in front of thousands of critics, day after day and year after year. Finally, he knew how to enjoy what he had, without the desire to remake France (unlike the Puritans in England). That Louis received a rather superficial education was no doubt an advantage, since it enabled him to adopt his own single point of view without worrying about the intricacies of governing the country. He hated reading, but was an excellent listener - he enjoyed attending council meetings for several hours a day. A subtle and sharp mind was a hindrance to Louis's position as leader of the French aristocracy, a position in which ceremonial observance mattered more than intelligence. Louis moved his court from the Louvre to Versailles, 32 kilometers from Paris, partly to get rid of annoying townspeople, partly to create a powerful but secluded center for the aristocracy. At Versailles, he built a huge palace, the facade of which stretched 5 kilometers in length, the marble-lined rooms were decorated with tapestries, and bravura portraits showed his military triumphs. The surrounding gardens were decorated with 1,400 fountains, 1,200 orange trees bloomed in the greenhouse, and the courtyards were decorated with classical statues - mainly of Apollo, the sun god. Today Versailles is just a museum complex; at the end of the 17th century. 10 thousand representatives of the nobility lived here with their servants. 60 percent of royal taxes went to maintain Versailles and the royal court.
The secret of Louis's success was truly simple: he, and only he, could give the French aristocracy and the upper stratum of the bourgeoisie what they most wanted at that moment. The king devoted more than half of each working day to palace ceremonies. It was a pleasant pastime for the aristocracy, which for a long time was the most capricious and unruly element in French society and expected the king to pay due attention to their unique world of privilege. They approved the king's move to Versailles. Louis allowed all the main representatives of the nobility to live at court, where he could observe them. He regulated every moment of his day and his courtiers with a rigid set of rules of palace etiquette in order to put the huge court in order, elevate his person and rein in the nobility. The aristocrat who would otherwise have become the leader of the new Fronde in the country became the center of ridicule at the court at Versailles, his ambitions being to hold up the sleeve of Louis's doublet as he dressed, to listen to the platitudes that the king spoke, and to watch him eating. Louis was a gourmet and preferred to dine alone. By the time the honor guard brought several dishes from the kitchen to the king's table, the food had already cooled, which did not stop Louis from finishing off a dozen plates of game and meat in one sitting. The menu for one of his feasts included 168 dishes.
Only through diligent service at court could an aristocrat achieve the king's favor and privileges. The king had a huge number of honorary positions, which he gave out as gifts; honored aristocrats were made generals, governors, and ambassadors. Most of the 200 thousand French peers lived away from their country, but they also liked the tax exemption. As a result, the aristocracy under Louis XIV had little power. But the leading members of the nobility preferred the splendor and luxury of Louis to the feudal autonomy they had known before. They did not want to deprive France of its head, although towards the end of Louis's reign they sought to control his power. In the 18th century The claims of aristocrats to increase their political influence, corresponding to their social privileges, became the main cause of the French Revolution.
He identified his power with the collective desires of his subjects, unlike Leopold I or Frederick William, whose subjects never tasted national unification, since Austria and Brandenburg-Prussia were congregations of unrelated territories. Moreover, Western European absolutism rested on simple relationships with landowners, while Louis XIV carefully built connections with the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie. Like his Bourbon predecessors, Louis preferred to see representatives of the middle class in the posts of ministers, intendants, and advisers. His chief minister, Colbert, was the son of a merchant and worked under the direct supervision of the king. No members of the royal family or high aristocracy were invited to the daily sessions of the council at Versailles, where the king discussed matters of war, diplomacy, finance and peace. The decisions of the council were communicated to the rest of the country through intendants, who controlled all levels of local government, especially the courts, police and tax collection. Louis effectively eliminated the power of all remaining institutions in France that could interfere with his centralized bureaucracy. His intendants forced three local parliaments to cease their activities, arresting and intimidating those representatives who dared criticize royal policies. Parliaments soon ceased to be a hindrance.
Louis' centralized administrative system had its drawbacks. The king's decision could only be carried out at the local level by more than 40 thousand representatives of the bourgeoisie, who bought from the crown a lifelong stay in their posts. Despite the activities of the quartermasters, residents ignored some decrees that were unpleasant to them. And yet Louis' system worked. The king's urban subjects were more intelligent and capable than the nobility. The French bourgeoisie quickly took over positions in public service, finding at the same time that such power satisfies their needs better than some “vulgar” trade or industry. Only in the 18th century. the bourgeoisie, like the aristocracy, became dissatisfied with their position; their well-founded demands for social privileges corresponding to their political and economic position also became the cause of the French Revolution.
Like any ruler of the 17th century, Louis XIV paid little attention to the unprivileged sector of his society. He protected his peasants from civil war and from foreign invasion to the end of his reign. But in a society where 80 percent of the population was peasants, very little was done to improve agricultural productivity.
In 1660, France was experiencing a terrible famine, and it was the same in 1690. Many French peasants had their own plots of land, but they still bore the burden of feudalism and serving the owner. The poorest peasants were forced to hand over their plots to creditors, and the percentage of those who leased land in parts and those who worked for wages grew inexorably throughout the late 17th century. The unemployed poor were hired into the Sun King's army or sent to workhouses. During the reign of Louis XIV, taxes doubled, bringing in 116 million livres in 1683 against 85 million in 1661 and 152 million in 1715. Many bourgeois sought to avoid paying taxes, so the position of the peasants was unenviable. Whenever they began to rebel against new taxes, Louis XIV sent soldiers to the rebellious district and hanged the rebels or sent them to the galleys as slaves.
Money collected from the peasantry paid for the expenses of Louis's court and his army, as well as Colbert's mercantilist policies. Jean-Baptiste Colbert (1619–1683), minister of finance from 1661 to 1683, was remarkably energetic and remarkably pedantic. His energy was evident in the enthusiasm with which he plugged the huge holes in the royal revenue system.
Colbert found that only 35 percent of the taxes that the French paid ended up in the royal treasury, the remaining 75 percent disappeared into the pockets of middlemen and corrupt officials. Colbert stopped taxing farmers and significantly reduced some of the debt. By the time of his death, 80 percent of the increased tax payments were received by the treasury. With the same energy, Colbert achieved his mercantilist goal. He used every opportunity of his position to set France on the path to a self-sustaining economic union. Colbert equated wealth to bars of gold, and from the moment the amount of gold to end of XVII V. became stable, he calculated that France could improve its prosperity only with the help of gold from other countries. He sought to take it away from Holland, envious of the latter's resourcefulness. To introduce the export of goods from France into Dutch-dominated territories, he organized a series of French trading companies, the most important of which were the East India Company, the West India North Company, and the Levant Company. He paid generously for the construction of ships. He raised tariffs on imports from Holland and England. He did everything he could - which really wasn't much - to speed up French trade: he improved roads (slightly) and built several canals. But the rafting of goods across the country still took a month. I was also not happy with the cost of transportation costs. Colbert paid special attention to the development of new industry in France. He sponsored the production of goods that France had previously imported, such as luxury items such as silk, wool, mirrors and glass. Were all these actions thought out? The limits of Colbert's success are clear. He did not build a merchant fleet to compete with the Dutch, that is, he could not stop importing goods from other countries. French trade remained rather undeveloped due to tax duties and local habits. From the moment French merchants began investing in Colbert's risky maritime ventures, the king had to pay for more than half of the investments in the West India and East India Companies. In any case, most of Colbert's companies failed within a few years. His industrial projects went better, although his meticulous management deprived the industry of proactive growth. He neglected heavy industry, say ironworking. And he didn't pay attention to Agriculture, because the French food industry was fine. However, without a doubt, French trade and industry benefited greatly from Colbert's efforts. In a society where merchants and merchants were not respected, it was important for the government to protect and enhance the role of commerce and industry. Moreover, at the end of the 17th century. France was ready to accept Colbert's mercantilist doctrine. The French economy was more diversified than the Spanish, and French merchants were more responsive to government intervention than their Dutch and English rivals.
One of Colbert's decisions was to unite the country's scattered plantations into a huge colonial empire. By 1680, Louis XIV had trading ports in India, several eastern points in Indian Ocean, slave points in Africa and 14 sugar islands in the Caribbean. His most impressive achievement was the colony of New France; Fur traders and Jesuit missionaries settled North America from St. Lawrence Island north to Hudson Bay, west to the Great Lakes, and south along the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico. Several thousand French lived in these places. The amount of fur, fish and tobacco exported from New France disappointed the king. Only the sugar islands and trading ports of India were able to become a source of income for France. In any case, under Colbert, France took a big step towards its impressive 18th-century economy.
So far little has been said about religion. Louis XIV was in a delicate position in relation to the Catholic Church. He allowed the Huguenot heretics to hold their services within the country, which other Catholic rulers could hardly afford. And his country was the only Catholic state to ignore the reform decrees of the Council of Trent because the French crown refused to share control of its church with the papacy or council. Louis XIV did not even think of giving up. On the contrary, in 1682 he announced to his priests that the papacy no longer had power over the French Church. However, Louis sought to introduce some semblance of Tridentine discipline into French religious practice in order to complete the unification of the country into a single union. Unifying French religious practice was not so easy. Catholics were experiencing the peak of spiritual revival. The Catholic Reformation came to France in the 17th century, later than to Spain, Italy and Germany. New orders were born, for example, the Trappists and Saint Vincent de Paul (c. 1581–1660) founded the institution of Sisters of Charity to care for the poor, foundlings and courtesans of Paris. Some reforms were ineffective; Basically three groups - the Jesuits, the Quietists and the Jansenists - competed for the support of the ruling class. Louis favored the Jesuits. In their schools and denominations, the Jesuits carried out work to instruct them to avoid sects and respect the country and state. Many Catholics were offended by the casuistry of the Jesuits and the pragmatics of the doctrine that God helps those who help themselves. Quietists leaned towards religion personal experience, believing that the soul can achieve the ideal through passive union with God. The Jansenists leaned towards the opposite theological pole. They rejected the Jesuit doctrine of freedom of choice and reaffirmed the thesis of St. Augustine - and Calvin - about original sin and the irresistible desire to choose. The Quietist and Jansenist movements attracted many prominent minds: Francis Fenelon was a Quietist, Blaise Pascal a Jansenist. Be that as it may, Louis recognized these two sects as intolerant and sentenced their members to exile, imprisonment or beheading.
If Louis was hostile to the Catholic heresy, then one can easily guess about his attitude towards the Huguenots. From 1620, when Richelieu broke their political and military independence, the Huguenots became useful subjects and valuable citizens. From the aristocratic faction of the 16th century. they became a respectable society of bourgeois and white-collar workers. But when Louis began to eradicate the Protestant heresy, it turned out that thousands of them were still of their own opinion. Louis closed Huguenot schools and churches, paid those who converted to another religion, and sent soldiers to the homes of those who refused to change religion. In 1685, the king remembered the Edict of Nantes of Henry IV. Now French Protestants did not have city rights, their children grew up and were raised as Catholics, and the clergy were executed or expelled. After 1685 Protestantism still existed, but in a very modest way. The most convinced Huguenots - about 200 thousand - went to England, the Dutch Republic and other Protestant countries. Louis paid this price to achieve true Catholicism, as was the case in Spain, Austria, and Bohemia. At the end of the 17th century. the Dutch and English were the only ones who accepted any degree of nonconformism. The French were no more anti-Protestant than the English were anti-Catholic, but they asserted their superiority more forcefully. Louis, like any absolute monarch, proclaimed his right to rule his subjects. “The state is me,” said Louis.
No matter how cruel his methods were, Louis XIV was far from modern dictators. His power was based on a stratified society, where each class had its own functions and status. Louis increased the privileges of the aristocrats and bourgeoisie in order to maintain an alliance with them. The king rarely took risks within his Versailles circle. He did not seek to establish contact with the peasants, who remained subjects of the lords. When the revolution of 1789 awakened the national spirit among the French, it opened the way new government beyond Louis's dreams. His method of governing France most closely parallels that of Philip II of Spain a century earlier. At first glance, the two kings acted in exactly the opposite way. Calm, self-absorbed Philip in his stone Escorial and Louis, surrounded by luxury at Versailles. But all these are just differences in the temperament of the French and Spaniards. Both monarchs adopted features of early European absolutism. Spain 16th century and France of the 17th century. were agrarian, feudal countries where the king was only as strong as his army and bureaucracy, and as rich as the taxes collected from the peasants. Since Bourbon France was larger and richer than Habsburg Spain, Louis XIV was able to establish a stronger absolutist rule than Philip. He assembled a large army to satisfy dynastic ambitions and change the international balance of power. But France's rivals were not far behind. Louis realized - as did Philip - that war could bankrupt even the most powerful ruler.
During the first half of his reign, from 1661 to 1688, Louis's foreign policy was a series of brilliant conquests. Building on Mazarin's conquests, he retook territories in Flanders, Luxembourg, Lorraine, Alsace and Franche-Comté. His troops easily defeated the armies of the Spaniards and the Empire. In 1677 they conquered the United Provinces. French diplomats cleverly set Louis's enemies against each other to prevent the creation of an anti-French coalition. England and Sweden were brought into an alliance with France. Louis' ambitions were dynastic, not national. And it was only a coincidence that the people in the conquered territories spoke French. He laid claim to any land where he could obtain title by inheritance or by marriage. At the end of his reign, he wanted to conquer the Spanish Habsburg Empire, since his mother and wife were Infantas of Spain. But after 1699, Louis's grandiose foreign policy no longer worked so smoothly. France plunged into a twenty-five year war against the international coalition that first stopped Louis's expansion and put him to flight. The organizer was one of the most skillful politicians of that era, William of Orange. A Dutchman with an exceptional sense of national pride and zeal, William spent his life opposing Louis XIV and everything he did.
Prince William III of Orange (1650–1702) was the Habsburg governor of the Netherlands and the great-grandson of William the Silent, the organizer of the revolt against Philip II. Wilhelm's whole life became the reason that he hated absolutism, the Habsburgs and the Bourbons. The Dutch Republic was small and poorly structured. Its inhabitants had no political ambitions to achieve independence, which they lost due to Spain. By the middle of the 17th century. Holland has reached its peak economic development. The two political factions, the Orangemen and the Regents, were at the status quo. The regents were merchants in Holland, the most important of the seven provinces. They adhered to political oligarchy and religious tolerance. The Orangemen sought the power of the Williamite dynasty. In times of international crisis, the military talents of this dynasty were especially needed. William the Silent and his son fought a protracted war with Spain from 1560 to 1648. While William was a child, Dutch politics was controlled by the regents. Their leader, Jan de Witt (1625–1672), founded his foreign policy on friendship with France; later his position was crushed. When Louis invaded the United Provinces in 1672 at the height of the crisis, de Witt was killed in the street by a mad monk. The reins of power passed to the young prince. To stop the expansion of France, he committed a desperate act: he opened the docks and flooded the neighboring territories. It worked: Louis lost his army. During and after the crisis, William ruled the country without being king. He believed that the monarchy was contrary to the traditions and temperament of the Dutch, and therefore adhered to a federal and republican framework. In any case, his goal was to prevent further French conquests.
In 1674, Wilhelm organized the first anti-French coalition. It consisted of the United Provinces, Austria, Spain and several German principalities. Unfortunately for William, his allies fell to the military might of France and in 1679 signed a peace treaty with Louis. A decade of truce began, during which the French advanced along the Rhine. In 1681, Louis captured Strasbourg, and in 1684 - Luxembourg. By this time, all France's neighbors were alarmed. A new anti-French coalition was formed: the League of Augsburg included the allies of 1674 plus Sweden and most of the principalities of Germany. William knew that to stop Louis, the league needed the support of England. And he knew that the British were on the verge of revolution against their king, James II. He had his own interests in England: William could just as much claim the English throne as Louis could claim the Spanish throne; his mother and wife were princesses of the Stuart dynasty. In 1688 he took action against his adoptive father James and thus joined England in the alliance against France. Let's follow him along the English Channel.
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From the book 50 Great Dates in World History author Schuler JulesThe Age of Louis XIV During the reign of Louis XIV, France acquired high cultural authority in addition to political and military authority, to which we will return. She became, in Taine's words, "a source of elegance, comfort, fine style, refined ideas and
Fashion of the era of Louis XIV (1660-1715)I confess - I really love films about Angelica! When I first saw them on the big screen, I just fell in love with the dresses main character, especially the golden one, remember? And how easily Angelica ran in these luxurious toilets along the corridors of the Louvre, charmed, fought and fell in love... However, was the fashion of those years really so easy and charming?
So, the fashion of the times of the Sun King, as Louis XIV, without any embarrassment, called himself...
Wife of Louis XIY
Louis XIV did not receive a deep book education, but had extraordinary natural abilities and excellent taste. His penchant for luxury and amusements made Versailles the most brilliant court in Europe and a trendsetter.
Ideals of beauty have changed. A male knight, a warrior, finally turned into a secular courtier. The nobleman's compulsory training in dance and music gives his appearance plasticity. Rough physical strength is replaced by other, highly valued qualities: intelligence, ingenuity, grace. 17th century masculinity - this is majestic posture and gallant treatment of ladies.
With the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV, the ideals of male beauty changed. A man who is incapable of physical labor is now called handsome. A beautiful thin brush, unsuitable for work, but able to gently and delicately caress. A beautiful little leg, the movements of which are like a light dance, barely able to walk and completely unable to step decisively and firmly.
The cost of outfits became fantastic - for example, one of the suits of Louis XIV had about 2 thousand diamonds and diamonds. Imitating the king, the courtiers tried to keep up with the fashion for luxurious attire and, if not surpass the Sun King himself, then at least not to lose face in front of each other. No wonder the proverb of that time said: “The nobility carries its income on its shoulders.” In the men's wardrobe there were at least 30 suits according to the number of days in the month - and they were supposed to be changed daily.
By the end of the 17th century. Basically, there are three important components that make up men's clothing today - a frock coat, a vest and trousers.
The men's suit was complemented by silk or woolen stockings in white, blue, and red with embroidery and patterns; bow tie; and wigs that left a significant mark on fashion history. Rumor attributes their appearance to Louis XIV. In childhood and adolescence, he had beautiful hair - the envy of all fashionistas. Having gone bald due to illness, he ordered a wig for himself. From then on, wigs became a mandatory part of the costume for 150 years!
A golden or reddish wig was combed down the middle; his two wings framed his face with beautifully lying rows of curls. At the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries. The wig takes on a pyramidal shape and is made from blond and then brown hair, falling in long strands over the chest and back. The male head becomes like the head of a lion with a thick mane.
The wig seemed to personify the greatness and inaccessibility of its owner. With such an abundance of hair on the head, it completely disappears from the face, even those tiny mustaches that recently adorned the upper lip. Fashionistas of that time blushed and inked their eyebrows so that their appearance resembled ladies.
The ideal of female beauty combined pomp and coquetry. A woman should be tall, with well-developed shoulders, breasts, hips, a very thin waist (with the help of a corset it was tightened to 40 centimeters) and voluminous hair. The role of costume in expressing the ideal of beauty is becoming greater than ever before.
By the way, the corset was very heavy (almost 1 kg, whalebone plates were sewn into it). Naturally, the whalebone trade became more and more profitable every day. The fashion for a thin waist sometimes led to the fact that some ladies fainted every day (they had to carry smelling salts with them), and sometimes to a tragedy - the rigid frame of the corset pierced the liver.
Women wore complex, high (up to 50-60 centimeters) hairstyles supported by wire; Rich lace flowed from her hair. One of the most fashionable hairstyles of the time was called a la Fontange, in honor of the favorite of the Sun King. It remained in fashion until the death of Louis XIV.
Women's fashion second half XVII V. changed more often than the men's, because its legislators were numerous favorites of Louis XIV. True, the ladies' wardrobe has one common feature- the desire to emphasize that part of the female body that was more attractive for the next favorite or to skillfully hide a less attractive one. This is the natural desire of an ambitious mistress, trying by all available means to extend her power at the royal court.
Women's dresses of those times were real works of art. They had to achieve one goal: to make female body as attractive as possible, hiding all its ugly parts. Ideally, to please the king! Dresses were made from bright, richly colored fabrics and rich dark tones. The ladies wore three skirts, one on top of the other: the first, the upper one, was the “prude”, the second, the “minx,” and the third, the lower one, the “secretary.” The bodice of the whalebone dress is tightened so that the woman begins to bend forward seductively. In general, corsets at this time began to look like outlandish paintings; they were sewn with bows, flowers, and decorated with precious stones.
In France, it was considered quite natural that a king, if he was a healthy and normal man, should have mistresses, as long as decency was maintained. It should also be noted that Louis never confused love affairs with state affairs. He did not allow women to interfere in politics, carefully measuring the boundaries of influence of his favorites.
Among the king's many lovers, three figures are usually distinguished. Former favorite in 1661-1667. the quiet and modest maid of honor Louise de La Vallière, who gave birth to Louis four times, was perhaps the most devoted and most humiliated of all his mistresses. When the king no longer needed her, she retired to a monastery, where she spent the rest of her life.
Despite the fact that she was not very beautiful and had a slight limp, she managed to charm the young king with her pretty face, natural grace and friendly disposition. Lavaliere was distinguished by angelic modesty and chastity, which left an imprint on women's fashion of that time. It is to her that ladies owe their desire to create comfortable home outfits that are so necessary for family life.
In some ways, Françoise-Athenais de Montespan, who “reigned” (p. 422) in 1667-1679, presented a contrast to her. and bore the king six children. She was a beautiful and proud woman who was already married.
So that her husband could not take her away from the court, Louis gave her the high court rank of surintendant of the queen's court. Unlike Lavaliere, Montespan was not loved by those around the king: one of the highest church authorities in France, Bishop Bossuet, even demanded that the favorite be removed from the court. Montespan adored luxury and loved to give orders, but she also knew her place.
The period from 1667 to 1679, called the period of the extravagant reel, tall and stately, witty and arrogant, passionate and treacherous southern woman, with amazing forms and fiery eyes, Madame Françoise-Athenais de Montespan (1641-1707),
At this time, the costume was distinguished by its complexity and splendor, decorative sophistication and excessive luxury: gold lace, gold brocade, gold embroidery, gold on gold, diamond on diamond. As the famous fashionista of that time, Madame de Sevigne, wrote: “All this is entwined with gold, and all this is mixed with gold little things, and all together makes up a dress made of extraordinary fabric. You had to be a magician to create such a work, to perform this unimaginable work.” This was the costume of the Marquise de Montespan.
Madame de Montespan with children
The time from 1677 to 1681 was determined by the tastes of Mademoiselle Marie-Angelique de Fontanges 1561-1681) - an impeccable beauty with light ash hair and huge light gray bottomless eyes, milky skin and naturally rosy cheeks. The maiden Fontanges captivated the king with her youth, freshness, as they would say today, incredible sex appeal, but certainly not with her intelligence, which was very limited. One of the court ladies, Liselotte von Pfalz, wrote that she was as lovely as an angel, from the tips of her toes to the roots of her hair. Even Madame de Montespan, who hated her fiercely, called Marie-Angelica a beautiful... statue - her forms were so delightful.
At that time, the suit freed itself from the pretentious forms of the previous period, became more refined and simpler, but did not lose its flirtatiousness. And in general, everything connected with Fontanges bore the imprint of an elegant game. It was Fontanges, playing the role of a peasant or tradeswoman, who made wearing an apron (tablier) mandatory. Purely decorative, but usually made of precious lace, it turned from purely plebeian clothing into a ceremonial “facade” of aristocratic women’s dress.
Thanks to Fontange, the hairstyle named after her came into fashion - “a la Fontange”. As interesting as the history of the origin of this flirty hairstyle is, the fate of its creator is also instructive.
Once in 1680, while hunting in the forests of Fontainebleau, a beauty, rushing on a horse, disheveled her hair in order to straighten it, without being embarrassed at all, raised the hem of her skirt to her thigh in front of the entire taken aback courtyard, took off the red garter from her stockings and coquettishly tied it her beautiful hair. The bows of the lace garter were arranged like a ladder above the beauty’s forehead. This simple, improvised hairstyle charmed the king, and he asked his beloved not to wear another one. Naturally, the very next day all the court ladies and girls (if there were any) followed her example in the hope of the corresponding favor of the Sun King, and the hairstyle “a la Fontange” became fashionable for 30 years.
The construction of the fountain took a lot of time, which did not allow women not only to wash their hair, but even to comb their hair every day. Even aristocrats did this once every 1-2 weeks, but bourgeois women combed their hair even less often - once a month. Thanks to this, unpleasant insects - lice and fleas - become common in royal courts.
For some period, European beauties abandoned fontange, when in 1713, at a reception in Versailles, the Englishwoman, Duchess of Shrewsbury, appeared before Louis XIV with smoothly combed hair. A small, sleek hairstyle with rows of curls falling over the shoulders immediately came into fashion. The popularity of small hairstyles remained for quite a long time, until the 70s of the 18th century.
The fate of the pretty Madame Fontanges is tragic. On June 21, 1681, at the age of 22, she died of pneumonia, complicated by blood loss during childbirth. At one time there were rumors about her poisoning by her jealous and domineering ex-favorite de Montespan, but we are not given the opportunity to know what the actual situation was...
Unlike Henry IV, who at the age of 56 was crazy about 17-year-old Charlotte de Montmorency, Louis XIV, widowed at 45, suddenly began to strive for quiet family happiness. In the person of his third favorite, Françoise de Maintenon, who was three years older than him, the king found what he was looking for. Despite the fact that in 1683 Louis entered into a secret marriage with Françoise, his love was already the calm feeling of a man who foresaw old age. The beautiful, intelligent and pious widow of the famous poet Paul Scarron was, obviously, the only woman capable of influencing him.
With the “accession” of Maintenon, a tendency towards rigor and moderation was revealed in costume. For example, a very revealing neckline from the time of Mrs. Montespan gave way to an almost muted dress. Under the influence of Maintenon, the king even introduced a morality police to combat excessively deep necklines. Policemen on the street began to measure the depth of the neckline of gallant ladies with a ruler. The punishment was very original: the “offenders” had their hair cut off - a lot of material was required for wigs. Excessive tinsel in the form of lace and ribbons has disappeared.
In the 17th century, women, as you know, did not wear underwear - long johns - considering it shameful.
But the shape and, partly, the depth of the cutout changed. Everything depended on the whim of the next favorite. At first, during the time of Madame de La Vallière, the neckline had the shape of a shallow oval, then, when it was the turn of Madame de Montespan, who, according to the enthusiastic reviews of her flattering contemporaries, had breasts “in which one could drown,” the neckline became so shamelessly open and deep that the gentleman received comprehensive information about its contents.
During his lifetime, Louis XIV was called the Sun King. It was under him that France became the capital of fashion. The king himself dictated the style of clothing and introduced certain items into fashion. His wigs, heels and canes were adopted by the entire civilized world, and his favorites immediately became style icons. The fashion of the Sun King went through 4 stages - from the light and relaxed clothes of youth to the harsh, almost puritanical style of sunset.
There are a lot of sources.
Louis XIV reigned for 72 years, longer than any other European monarch. He became king at the age of four, took full power into his own hands at 23 and ruled for 54 years. “The state is me!” - Louis XIV did not say these words, but the state has always been associated with the personality of the ruler. Therefore, if we talk about the blunders and mistakes of Louis XIV (the war with Holland, the repeal of the Edict of Nantes, etc.), then the assets of the reign should also be credited to him.
The development of trade and manufacturing, the emergence colonial empire France, reforming the army and creating a navy, developing the arts and sciences, building Versailles and, finally, transforming France into a modern state. These are not all the achievements of the Century of Louis XIV. So what was this ruler who gave his name to his time?
Louis XIV de Bourbon, who received the name Louis-Dieudonné (“God-given”) at birth, was born on September 5, 1638. The name “God-given” appeared for a reason. Queen Anne of Austria gave birth to an heir at the age of 37.
For 22 years, the marriage of Louis's parents was barren, and therefore the birth of an heir was perceived by the people as a miracle. After the death of his father, young Louis and his mother moved to the Palais Royal, the former palace of Cardinal Richelieu. Here the little king was brought up in a very simple and sometimes squalid environment.
Louis XIV de Bourbon.
His mother was considered regent of France, but real power lay in the hands of her favorite, Cardinal Mazarin. He was very stingy and did not care at all not only about providing pleasure to the child king, but even about his availability of basic necessities.
The first years of Louis's formal reign included the events of a civil war known as the Fronde. In January 1649, an uprising against Mazarin broke out in Paris. The king and ministers had to flee to Saint-Germain, and Mazarin generally fled to Brussels. Peace was restored only in 1652, and power returned to the hands of the cardinal. Despite the fact that the king was already considered an adult, Mazarin ruled France until his death.
Giulio Mazarin - church and political leader and first minister of France in 1643-1651 and 1653-1661. He took up the post under the patronage of Queen Anne of Austria.
In 1659, peace was signed with Spain. The agreement was sealed by the marriage of Louis with Maria Theresa, who was his cousin. When Mazarin died in 1661, Louis, having received his freedom, hastened to get rid of all guardianship over himself.
He abolished the position of first minister, announcing to the State Council that from now on he himself would be the first minister, and no decree, even the most insignificant, should be signed by anyone on his behalf.
Louis was poorly educated, barely able to read and write, but had common sense and a strong determination to maintain his royal dignity. He was tall, handsome, had a noble bearing, and tried to express himself briefly and clearly. Unfortunately, he was overly selfish, as no European monarch was distinguished by monstrous pride and selfishness. All previous royal residences seemed to Louis unworthy of his greatness.
After some deliberation, in 1662 he decided to turn the small hunting castle of Versailles into Royal Palace. It took 50 years and 400 million francs. Until 1666, the king had to live in the Louvre, from 1666 to 1671. in the Tuileries, from 1671 to 1681, alternately in the Versailles under construction and Saint-Germain-O-l"E. Finally, from 1682, Versailles became the permanent residence of the royal court and government. From now on, Louis visited Paris only on short visits.
The king's new palace was distinguished by its extraordinary splendor. The so-called (large apartments) - six salons, named after ancient deities - served as hallways for the Mirror Gallery, 72 meters long, 10 meters wide and 16 meters high. Buffets were held in the salons, and guests played billiards and cards.
The Great Condé greets Louis XIV on the Staircase at Versailles.
In general, card games became an uncontrollable passion at court. The bets reached several thousand livres at stake, and Louis himself stopped playing only after he lost 600 thousand livres in six months in 1676.
Also comedies were staged in the palace, first by Italian and then by French authors: Corneille, Racine and especially often Moliere. In addition, Louis loved to dance, and repeatedly took part in ballet performances at court.
The splendor of the palace corresponded to complex rules etiquette established by Louis. Any action was accompanied by a whole set of carefully designed ceremonies. Meals, going to bed, even basic quenching of thirst during the day - everything was turned into complex rituals.
War against everyone
If the king were only concerned with the construction of Versailles, the rise of the economy and the development of the arts, then, probably, the respect and love of his subjects for the Sun King would be limitless. However, the ambitions of Louis XIV extended much beyond the borders of his state.
By the early 1680s, Louis XIV had the most powerful army in Europe, which only whetted his appetite. In 1681, he established chambers of reunification to determine the rights of the French crown to certain areas, seizing more and more lands in Europe and Africa.
In 1688, Louis XIV's claims to the Palatinate led to the whole of Europe turning against him. The so-called War of the League of Augsburg lasted for nine years and resulted in the parties maintaining the status quo. But the huge expenses and losses incurred by France led to a new economic decline in the country and a depletion of funds.
But already in 1701, France was drawn into a long conflict called the War of the Spanish Succession. Louis XIV hoped to defend the rights to the Spanish throne for his grandson, who was to become the head of two states. However, the war, which engulfed not only Europe, but also North America, ended unsuccessfully for France.
According to the peace concluded in 1713 and 1714, the grandson of Louis XIV retained the Spanish crown, but its Italian and Dutch possessions were lost, and England, by destroying the Franco-Spanish fleets and conquering a number of colonies, laid the foundation for its maritime dominion. In addition, the project of uniting France and Spain under the hand of the French monarch had to be abandoned.
Sale of offices and expulsion of the Huguenots
This last military campaign of Louis XIV returned him to where he began - the country was mired in debt and groaning under the burden of taxes, and here and there uprisings broke out, the suppression of which required more and more resources.
The need to replenish the budget led to non-trivial decisions. Under Louis XIV, the trade in government positions was put on stream, reaching its maximum extent in last years his life. To replenish the treasury, more and more new positions were created, which, of course, brought chaos and discord into the activities of state institutions.
Louis XIV on coins.
The ranks of opponents of Louis XIV were joined by French Protestants after the “Edict of Fontainebleau” was signed in 1685, repealing the Edict of Nantes of Henry IV, which guaranteed freedom of religion to the Huguenots.
After this, more than 200 thousand French Protestants emigrated from the country, despite strict penalties for emigration. The exodus of tens of thousands of economically active citizens dealt another painful blow to the power of France.
The unloved queen and the meek lame woman
At all times and eras personal life monarchs influenced politics. Louis XIV is no exception in this sense. The monarch once remarked: “It would be easier for me to reconcile all of Europe than a few women.”
His official wife in 1660 was a peer, the Spanish Infanta Maria Theresa, who was Louis’s cousin on both his father and mother.
The problem with this marriage, however, was not the close family ties of the spouses. Louis simply did not love Maria Theresa, but he meekly agreed to the marriage, which had important political significance. The wife bore the king six children, but five of them died in childhood. Only the first-born survived, named, like his father, Louis and who went down in history under the name of the Grand Dauphin.
The marriage of Louis XIV took place in 1660.
For the sake of marriage, Louis broke off relations with the woman he really loved - the niece of Cardinal Mazarin. Perhaps the separation from his beloved also influenced the king’s attitude towards his legal wife. Maria Theresa accepted her fate. Unlike other French queens, she did not intrigue or get involved in politics, playing a prescribed role. When the queen died in 1683, Louis said: “ This is the only worry in my life that she has caused me.».
The king compensated for the lack of feelings in marriage with relationships with his favorites. For nine years, Louise-Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc, Duchess de La Vallière, became Louis's sweetheart. Louise was not distinguished by dazzling beauty, and, moreover, due to an unsuccessful fall from a horse, she remained lame for the rest of her life. But the meekness, friendliness and sharp mind of Lamefoot attracted the attention of the king.
Louise bore Louis four children, two of whom lived to adulthood. The king treated Louise quite cruelly. Having begun to grow cold towards her, he settled his rejected mistress next to his new favorite - Marquise Françoise Athenaïs de Montespan. The Duchess de La Valliere was forced to endure the bullying of her rival. She endured everything with her characteristic meekness, and in 1675 she became a nun and lived for many years in a monastery, where she was called Louise the Merciful.
There was not a shadow of the meekness of her predecessor in the lady before Montespan. A representative of one of the most ancient noble families in France, Françoise not only became the official favorite, but for 10 years turned into the “true queen of France.”
Marquise de Montespan with four legitimized children. 1677 Palace of Versailles.
Françoise loved luxury and did not like counting money. It was the Marquise de Montespan who turned the reign of Louis XIV from deliberate budgeting to unrestrained and unlimited spending. Capricious, envious, domineering and ambitious, Francoise knew how to subjugate the king to her will. New apartments were built for her in Versailles, and she managed to place all her close relatives in significant government positions.
Françoise de Montespan bore Louis seven children, four of whom lived to adulthood. But the relationship between Françoise and the king was not as faithful as with Louise. Louis allowed himself hobbies besides his official favorite, which infuriated Madame de Montespan.
To keep the king with her, she began to practice black magic and even became involved in a high-profile poisoning case. The king did not punish her with death, but deprived her of the status of a favorite, which was much more terrible for her.
Like her predecessor, Louise le Lavalier, the Marquise de Montespan exchanged the royal chambers for a monastery.
Time for repentance
Louis's new favorite was the Marquise de Maintenon, the widow of the poet Scarron, who was the governess of the king's children from Madame de Montespan.
This king's favorite was called the same as her predecessor, Françoise, but the women were as different from each other as heaven and earth. The king had long conversations with the Marquise de Maintenon about the meaning of life, about religion, about responsibility before God. The royal court replaced its splendor with chastity and high morality.
Madame de Maintenon.
After the death of his official wife, Louis XIV secretly married the Marquise de Maintenon. Now the king was occupied not with balls and festivities, but with masses and reading the Bible. The only entertainment he allowed himself was hunting.
The Marquise de Maintenon founded and directed Europe's first secular school for women, called the Royal House of Saint Louis. The school in Saint-Cyr became an example for many similar institutions, including the Smolny Institute in St. Petersburg.
For her strict disposition and intolerance for social entertainment, the Marquise de Maintenon received the nickname Black queen. She survived Louis and after his death retired to Saint-Cyr, living the rest of her days among the pupils of her school.
Illegitimate Bourbons
Louis XIV recognized his illegitimate children from both Louise de La Vallière and Françoise de Montespan. They all received their father's surname - de Bourbon, and dad tried to arrange their lives.
Louis, Louise's son, was already promoted to French admiral at the age of two, and as an adult he went on a military campaign with his father. There, at the age of 16, the young man died.
Louis-Auguste, son from Françoise, received the title of Duke of Maine, became a French commander and in this capacity accepted the godson of Peter I and Alexander Pushkin's great-grandfather Abram Petrovich Hannibal for military training.
Grand Dauphin Louis. The only surviving legitimate child of Louis XIV by Maria Theresa of Spain.
Françoise-Marie, the most youngest daughter Louis, was married to Philippe d'Orléans, becoming the Duchess of Orléans. Possessing the character of her mother, Françoise-Marie plunged headlong into political intrigue. Her husband became the French regent under the young King Louis XV, and Françoise-Marie's children married the scions of other European royal dynasties.
In a word, not many illegitimate children of ruling persons suffered the same fate that befell the sons and daughters of Louis XIV.
“Did you really think that I would live forever?”
The last years of the king's life turned out to be a difficult ordeal for him. The man, who throughout his life defended the chosenness of the monarch and his right to autocratic rule, experienced not only the crisis of his state. His close people left one after another, and it turned out that there was simply no one to transfer power to.
On April 13, 1711, his son, the Grand Dauphin Louis, died. In February 1712, the Dauphin's eldest son, the Duke of Burgundy, died, and on March 8 of the same year, the latter's eldest son, the young Duke of Breton, died.
On March 4, 1714, the Duke of Burgundy's younger brother, the Duke of Berry, fell from his horse and died a few days later. The only heir was the 4-year-old great-grandson of the king, the youngest son of the Duke of Burgundy. If this little one had died, the throne would have remained vacant after the death of Louis.
This forced the king to include even his illegitimate sons in the list of heirs, which promised internal civil strife in France in the future.
Louis XIV.
At 76 years old, Louis remained energetic, active and, as in his youth, regularly went hunting. During one of these trips, the king fell and injured his leg. Doctors discovered that the injury had caused gangrene and suggested amputation. The Sun King refused: this is unacceptable for royal dignity. The disease progressed rapidly, and soon agony began, lasting for several days.
At the moment of clarity of consciousness, Louis looked around those present and uttered his last aphorism:
- Why are you crying? Did you really think that I would live forever?
On September 1, 1715, at about 8 o'clock in the morning, Louis XIV died in his palace at Versailles, four days short of his 77th birthday.
When we talk about Louis XIV, we immediately think of Versailles, where the Sun King preferred to live, a little far from Paris. And yet the king did not abandon his capital, so even today we can admire the magnificent architectural monuments created by the will of the powerful king! He also established new rules that greatly changed the lives of Parisians. You are invited to the Paris of Louis XIV!
A city to match Louis the Great
Creating Palace of Versailles , the king did not forget about expansion Louvre- the royal residence of that period. Thus, we owe Louis XIV the magnificent colonnade of the Louvre, by the way, built by Claude Perrault (brother of the famous French storyteller)
As soon as the colonnade was completed, construction began on the Invalides - a majestic hospital for the wounded soldiers of the royal army. At the same time, Parisians saw the appearance of the Porte Saint-Den and Saint-Martin (arches built on the royal road at the entrance to Paris). Finally gorgeous Square of victory, designed by Jules Mansart, the king's chief architect, was built near Palais Royal in honor of his military victories.
Legendary Institutions
At the request of many scientists, Louis XIV and his faithful minister Colbert founded the Academy of Sciences in 1666. Immediately afterwards it was decided to create Paris Observatory , which is equipped with quality instruments, will be of international stature in astronomy and is currently the oldest operating observatory in the world. A few years later, the Sun King wanted to unite two troupes of Parisian theaters and by royal decree the famous theater appeared Comedy France h.
Improved lighting
Tired of the Court of Miracles (a quarter in medieval Paris inhabited by a marginal population) - Louis XIV created the post of “Lieutenant General of the Police of Paris”, to which he appointed a certain Nicholas de la Reynie, who was responsible for the dispersal of marginal and poor groups of people in Paris. The king also took seriously the condition of the streets of the capital, so he organized a road service, as well as street lighting, consisting of 6,500 lanterns illuminating the city until midnight!
A holiday that left its mark
Even if the biggest receptions are usually held at Versailles, the Sun King organizes a luxurious horse parade for 15,000 people (Carousel in French) between Louvre and Tuileries in honor of the birth of his first child, the Grand Dauphin. This parade gave the name to the current Place de la Carousel, adorned with the triumphal arch of the Carrousel and overlooking the shops of the Louvre Carousel.
